Some say that the Bhagavad-Gita and Dante's Inferno are among the most popular scriptures supporting a detailed account of the Hindu way of life. Others argue that Dante's Inferno features ideas of Catholicism, a likely illustration of Dante's Italian background. Most questionable are the concepts of Dharma (maintenance of the world), Karma (“what goes around goes around”), and Samsara (rebirth) as found in the Bhagavad-Gita versus the strict Catholic beliefs of Dante's upbringing. Both beliefs address critical ideas about the afterlife, hell, and, most importantly, the concepts of sin, justice, and divine punishment. The pair has striking parallels and differences in their depiction of the afterlife. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The concepts of Dharma, Karma, and Samsara are very important to understanding the Bhagavad-Gita and how Hindus should live, including their predetermined destiny. For example, the Dharma contains three paths to salvation; one of these paths is known as the “path of duties,” or simply, the inevitable social obligation or duty that must be fulfilled before death (Basham). At the beginning of the Bhagavad-Gita, in a struggle for the land owned by Dhritarashtra (the king) and his people, Arjuna must kill Duryodhana, even though they are cousins. Family members and friends are on both sides of the battlefield and Arjuna realizes that he is not ready to kill his family members. Krishna quickly reminds him that he must fulfill his obligation by destroying his enemy, Dhritarashtra (Arnold). Here we can see that Arjuna's “duty” is to kill the King – a predestined destiny. According to Krishna, it would be dishonorable to disrespect the Dharma. Furthermore, killing, in this case, is not a sin, since both the murdered and the murderer will live a better life after death; the death of the enemy would restore the power of good. Dante is going through similar struggles to the extent that he is willing to give up the greater divine mission. Dante is lost, confused and suffering in a "dark forest", the personification of his fears. His journey, however, is intended to be the same path that every human being takes to understand their sins and find peace with God. It is also important to note that to gain an understanding of the afterlife, the couple (Arjuna and Dante) experience tutelage . Virgil and Beatrice both guide Dante through his many encounters while Krishna plays the role of guide in the Bhagavad-Gita. In the Bhagavad-Gita it is explained that people are reborn based on their actions and the life they have lived. Throughout Dante's Inferno there are similar visions of rebirth and events that demonstrate that there is life after death. After all, Dante places people in different levels of Hell depending on the severity of the sins committed; the punishments still fit the crime. For example, those who have committed suicide are sent to the Suicide Grove where they exist as trees; since they have taken charge of their lives on Earth, they have absolutely no control over their bodies in Hell (Alighieri). While this embodies the Hindu belief of Karma, it also exemplifies the Catholic religion, where committing suicide is just as sinful as killing another person; Likewise, Catholicism helped dictate which sins qualified someone to spend eternity in Hell and which sins were worse than others. In fact, the sins depicted in this written Hell parallel the "seven deadly sins", which is commonly taught in Christian teaching to define the sins.